March 08, 2014 (Pokljuka, SLO) – Canada’s Zina Kocher and Rosanna Crawford battled to 13th and 14th respectively in the IBU women’s 10km pursuit World Cup competition at Pokljuka today each w/four penalties as Finland’s Kaisa Makarainen earned her first victory this season with a time of 32:01.0 and two penalties.

Norway’s Tora Berger also missed two shots (1+0+1+0) en route to a silver medal at 19.7s behind, while Italy’s Dorothea Wierer rounded out the women’s podium in third at 54.4s behind (1+0+2+0).

This was a first for Canada, putting two women in the top-15 at a World Cup. Kocher and Crawford fed off of the team’s  momentum gained in Sochi where the Canadian squad delivered a series of personal bests and record setting results.

“Being a lot more relaxed now that the Olympics are over has a lot to do with things I think,” said Kocher, whose best pursuit result was a fourth place four years ago also in Pokljuka. “My shape is still really good, I’m having fun and just going for it. It was tricky with the wind, but again I posted the number one fastest lap time which is a great confidence kick knowing that I’m still skiing very well. It was a great fight for both Rosanna and I, refusing to give up until the finish line.”

Kocher climbed 10 spots on a difficult shooting day as the 31-year-old finished 2:47.9s behind (2+1+0+1) while 25-year-old Crawford, who is enjoying one of her best seasons, hurdled a trio of athletes to place 14th at 2:48.5s back (3+1+0+0).

“It was a bit of strange race today for me! Things started out really bad with three misses in my first prone. I find when I have bad first shooting or two the pressure is off a bit and it’s easier to hit the next 10-15 targets. It’s definitely something I need to work on,” said Crawford, who chalks this up to a personal best pursuit finish.  “When I left the range there wasn’t anyone to close to me, but then Zina passed me on one of the uphills and I was like ok time to giver!”

The USA’s Susan Dunklee finished 20^th at 3:37.5 behind with five penalties. “I am really happy that I’ve been able to hold onto my peak fitness from Sochi and continue to post strong ski times,” said Dunklee. “Shooting this week has been disappointing. I had a rifle malfunction on Thursday, and struggled with standing today, but I look forward to some more chances next week in Finland.”

American Sara Studebaker finished 37th at 4:35.7 behind with three penalties while Canadian Emma Lunder, a rookie out of Canmore, Alta., finished 41st today at 4:51.1 behind (2+2+0+0) – this follows Lunder’s stellar top-30 sprint finish at her World Cup debut. Two-time Olympian, Megan Heinicke placed 45th at 6:23.2 behind (1+1+3+2).

“We are having incredible results with one World Cup coach, only one hard working wax tech with our other one ill and no therapists here,” said Kocher, whose cash-strapped squad is paying their own way for the final World Cups this season. “It’s pretty impressive what our team has pulled off this year considering the lack funds in our program. I can only hope we can change this around in the future. I know a slight increase doesn’t guarantee medals, but we are closing the gap and are oh so close to that podium!”

Full results here.